


Tremble

by lone_lilly



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-05-21
Updated: 2009-05-21
Packaged: 2017-10-11 17:00:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/114617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lone_lilly/pseuds/lone_lilly





	Tremble

  
  
  
  
  


**Entry tags:**

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[ga: derek/meredith](http://la-scapigliata.dreamwidth.org/tag/ga:+derek/meredith), [grey's anatomy](http://la-scapigliata.dreamwidth.org/tag/grey%27s+anatomy)  
  
  
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Tremble

  
Tremble  
Meredith/Derek, 506 words  
post 5.24 (finale)

  
  
Their wedding night happens three days after the fact, when they have no more reason to stay at the hospital and both have strict orders to go home and rest.

It's five in the afternoon.

She's wearing the dress she'd worn for Susan's funeral, crumpled and loose on her small frame. He doesn't think she's eaten any more than they've slept.

They stare at each other from opposite sides of the bed until she finally ducks her head, her hair falling limply across her face. There is no light for him today; she's given all she has.

The walk around the bed to her takes energy he doesn't have but she leans into him when he gently gathers her dress and lifts it over her head making it entirely worth the effort.

She murmurs his name as he clumsily unfastens her bra, all dexterity and skill left on the operating table the day before as shaking fingers map the outline of her spine.

"I'm not really--"

"I know," he tells her, gravity weighing him down until his cheek is pressed against her hair. They are the first words they've spoken to each other in hours.

He doesn't tell her he's thankful to be allowed this much. It seems almost an act of sacrilege to be grateful for anything on a day like this.

It takes him longer to shed his own clothes; his arms are heavy and useless and she is no great help. They collapse onto the mattress simultaneously and he pulls her close, closer, until she tucks her face against his neck and her foot between his own.

Hers are cold, so cold all he can think of is water and the way his lungs burned worse than his eyes as he searched for her in the Sound, how blue and lifeless she was when he found her. It could have been her they buried first.

His breath hitches and her name gets caught ragged in his throat. She's already staring back when he opens his eyes.

The kiss is only for reassurance. She's not in the mood and he keeps his hands to himself. But she clings to him when he tries to pull away and they roll until he's on top of her, the warmth of her body underneath him setting his soul at ease.

They consummate their marriage in a slow tangle of limbs and grief and he refuses to take his gaze from her face, reveling in every one of her breaths fluttering against his skin. She's alive and she's his. Somehow he lucked out this time.

When it's over and his body curls protectively over hers, she finally lets go and cries for her loss. And he lets her, stroking her hair while he holds her. What should have been the happiest night of their lives is instead one of the worst afternoons, but he wouldn't change a single thing about this moment.

They are together and guaranteed nothing more. If this is all they get, he'll take it and cherish it forever.


End file.
